Newest Arrivals

Despite the current weather conditions, it really is almost spring. Around here spring means CHICKS! Last year we had so many things up in the air, that I didn't get any new chicks from the feed store. We just made do with the few that our hens decided to hatch themselves. Our flock has taken some hard hits this year though due to age and predators so we decided we needed some new laying hens. We've made some adjustments to our coop to hopefully keep the hawks and our resident Bald Eagle from having quite so many chicken dinners. We've also managed to trap and remove the skunk family that took up residence under the coop. The coyotes seem to be kept away by frequent target shooting. We've never actually shot at the coyotes, just the sound of guns seems to keep them out of the yard. So, I have high hopes for our flock this year. Owen goes through about 2-3 dozen eggs a week all by himself, so a good source of farm fresh eggs is very important to us.

A new feed store just opened up in our area, so the kids and I headed over to check it out and get our new babies. Owen whined all the way there about not wanting to leave the house and how much he hated chickens. Then, once we got there I literally couldn't keep him away from the chicks. They had several varieties, so we ended up with one or two of each. I like having a colorful flock. It makes it a lot easier to keep track of everyone if I can tell the chickens apart. Being true farm kids, the first question the kids asked was if these were for meat or eggs. Once I assured them the chicks were for egg making, they started naming them and calling dibs on their favorites.
The little darlings are in a brooder box in the house for now, then they'll move to our greenhouse (once Rod fixes the outlet in there for me) and eventually into the big coop.